G O T H I C I N S T R U M E N T S

E P I C D R O P S M O D U L E

CONTENTS:

• Overview• GeneralPrincipleofEPICDROPS• TheMIDIKeys• SavingYourSettings• ATTACKTIME• SoundMenus• TheATTACKSHAPEControlKnob• DEPTHcontrolknob• FALLTIMEButtons• RANDOMButton• SUPERButton• BottomRowOfDials• MasterEffectsPage• AboutThePresets• LicenseAgreement• FinalTips• Credits

OVERVIEW

Drops(alsoknownasfalls,downersandpower-downs)areanessentialfeatureofdancemusicandtrailersounddesign:incrediblefalling-pitchsonicgluewhichaddspowerandprofessionalismtoanyhitandstop.InourSculptorEpicDropsModule,HollywoodtrailersounddesignerAlessandroCamnasiohascreatedsomeincrediblerawmaterialforyoutoblendandshapefortheexactsoundyouneed.

INSTALLATIONSCULPTOREPICDROPSMODULEcontainsKontaktFormattedfiles,whichcanbeaccessedfromtheFilestabwithinthefullversionofKontakt.FromwithinKontakt,pleaseensureyouareontheFilestab,andnottheLibrariestab,andusethebrowsertolocateyourchoseninstallpath.Now,withtheproductfolderinthebottomofthetwoleftwindows,navigatethroughthefolderandtherewillbeKontaktinstrumentfiles(.nki)whichyoucandouble-clicktoloadintoKontakt.Goingbackandforthbetweenthelibraryandfilestabcanslowdownworkflow,thisiswhyNative-InstrumentsincludedahandyQuick-LoadfeaturewithinKontakt.BysettinguptheQuick-LoadfeatureyoucancustomisethelayoutandaccessallofyourKontaktformattedfilesandlibrariesinonelocation.PleaseseethehandyTime+Spacevideoformoredetailsonhowtosetthisup:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtON7YKor5Y

SYSTEMREQUIREMENTS• 2GBRAM• Kontakt5.6.8fullversion(notthefreeKontaktPlayer)• MacOSX10.6andabove• Windows7-10

GENERALPRINCIPLEOFEPICDROPS

Eachdropismadeupofablendoftwosounds,whichhelpstoaddspectralcomplexityandvarietytothesounds.WiththeGUIcontrolsyoucanchoosetheexactlengthinbars,plusawholesetofotherusefultoolsdescribedbelow.

THEMIDIKEYS

Thesoundsareonthebluekeysspreadover15whitenotes,sothereare15differentdropsoundsforeverynki.Themostrecently-playednoteisheldgreen.Theblacknotescutoffthesound,actingasaplayablenoisegate.Therednotescontrolthe5FALLTIMEbuttonsontheGUI.Playthem,andwatchtheFALLTIMEbuttonsswitchbetweenhalfabar(2beats)and8bars(32beats).

MAINGUIOVERVIEW

ThemainGUIpageallowsyoutomixandmatchtwosounds,changetheirvolumes,randomizethesounds,changethelengthoftherise,thepitch,EQ,theenvelopeshapes,filtersandsendeffects(delayandreverb).Meanwhilethefallinglightsgiveyouavisualguidetowhat’shappening.

IMPORTANT!MAKINGGLOBALEDITSUSINGTHEALTKEY

Bydefault,pressingabuttonormovingaGUIknobwillonlychangethesettingforthelastdropyouplayed,onthelastMIDIkeythatyouused.However,youmaywishtomakeachangeglobalforthewholecurrentlyloadedinstrument–all16sounds.Forexample,youmaywantthewholesetof16soundstohavenoreverborhaveazeroreleasetime.So,TOMAKEANEDITGLOBALFORTHEWHOLEINSTRUMENT,presstheALTkeyonyourcomputerkeyboardwhileyoumakeyoureditonthemainGUIpage.Doingthischangesthatsettingforeverysoundinthecurrentlyloadedinstrument.

ATTACKTIME

TheATTACKTIMEdialfadesinthedropsoundgraduallyatamaximumsetting.

SOUNDMENUS

Thewindowsaresoundmenus.Youcanmixandmatchdifferentsoundsintothe2differentslots.TheblacksliderstotherightoftheFALLsoundscontrolthebalancebetweenthetwosoundsinthetopandbottomsoundwindows.Havingtheblacksliderfullupordownisusefulforapurer,identifiablesound.Halfwayisbetterforamorecomplex,mixed,noisysound,whichwillblendswellinamix.

DECAYSHAPEcontrolknob

TheDECAYSHAPEdialcontrolstheshapeofthedropenvelope.Setfullforafastfadewherethevolumedropsquicklythenfadesoutmoregraduallyduringthetail.Settozeroforaslowslopewherethevolumestaysloudertotheendforamorebig,bolddropsound.

DEPTHcontrolknob

Thiscontrolsthedepth(amount)ofpitchchangeduringthedrop.Alowsettingwillflattenoutthedropinpitch,counteringtheunderlyingdropoftherawsample.Ahighsettingwillemphasizetheamountofpitchchange,meaningitwillstartatamuchhigherpitchbutreachthesameendpointasanyothersetting.Anupright12o’clockpositiongivesyouthepitchdropsoundasitwasoriginallycreated.

FALLTIMEButtons

TheFALLTIMEbuttonscontrolthetime(inbars)fromthetimeakeyistriggeredtotheendpointofthedrop.Highersettingsgiveyouaslowerdrop.Itissyncedtoyoursequencertempo.½ishalfabar(2beats),then1,2,4and8arebarlengths.TimeSignaturenote:RiseDesignerassumesyouarein4/4.Really“4bars”means16beats,soifyouarein3/4therisewillactuallybe5barsand1beatlong.Youmayneedacalculatorifyoudarestrayfromthesquarepathof4/4.

RANDOMBUTTON

Thismagicdicebuttonloadsarandomsetofsoundsintotheslotsonthelast-playedkey,offeringyouanendlesssetoffantasticnewsoundstoplaywith.Bewarethough–doingthiswipesoutwhateverwasonthatkeysomakesureyousaveyournkiunderanewnameifyouwanttokeepyourpreviouscreation.

SUPERBUTTON

Somethingliketheclassic‘supersaw’effect,thiscreatestriplicatesofeachsound,pansthemleft,centreandrightandslightlyup-andde-tunesthemtocreateaninstantthickwidtheffect.Itaddsdepthandpowerbutitsoundsmorenaturalwithoutit,soyou’llneedtodecidewhichisbest!

BOTTOMROWOFDIALS

Thisrowgivesyoualotofcontroloverthesoundonyourlast-playedMIDIkey:thesettingsonlyaffectthatsound-theyarenotglobalforthewholekeyboard.

DELandREV-Thesearedelayandreverbsends,controlledindependentlyforthelastplayedsound.Tomakeadifference,thedelayand/orreverbeffectsneedtobeactiveandloudenoughontheMASTERFXpage.VEListhevelocitysensitivity.Lowlevelsgiveyoualoudsoundwithagentlekeyboardhit.FisthefiltercutoffQistheFilterQ,akaresonance.V/Fisthevelocitytofiltermap.Highsettingsmakethevelocityaffectthefiltercutoffalot,butyoucanonlyhearthatiftheF(filter)hasalowsetting.ENV/Fistheenvelopetofiltermap.Thiscontrolshowmuchthefilterfallsduringthedropsound.LikeV/FtheeffectismoreaudiblewithlowerF(filter)settings.TUNE-pitchofcourse!HI-EQ–ThiscontrolsthebrightnessofthesoundbyaddingorreducingEQgainat10kHzREL-LengthofthereleaseafteryoustopplayingthekeyNote:delayworksparticularlywellwithdropsounds,creatingatrippyeffectasthepitchfallsdownthroughrepeatingpreviousversionsofitself.

ANIMATIONANDMASTERFX

ANIMATIONswitchesthemainfallinglightsanimationonandoff,incaseyoufindthatdistracting.MASTERFXtakesyoutotheotherGUIpage,theMASTEREFFECTSpage.

MASTEREFFECTSPAGE

Theseareglobaleffects,whichwillaffecteverysoundcurrentlyloadedonthewholekeyboard.Thetop3effects(DRIVE,COMPRESSIONandFILTER)areallINSERTEFFECTSwhileDELAYandREVERBareSENDEFFECTS.DelayandReverbsendlevelsarecontrolledseparatelyforeachsoundbackontheMAINpage.TheFILTERhas3modes:band-pass,high-pass,low-passandvowelfilterforwowowoweffects.TheGATERisasimplerhythmicalnoisegate,whereyoucancontrolthespeed(RATE),DEPTH(amountofgating),WIDTH(thesizeofthegapsbeingchoppedoutofthesound)andPAN(theamountofleft-rightmovementsyncedtothegater).

SAVINGYOURSETTINGS

Ifyou'vemadesomegreatnoises,youshouldre-namethenkiandsaveit,tokeepitforposterity.True,yourchangeswillalsoloadaspartofyourDAWprojectbutyoureallyshouldsaveittoanewnkiifyoumadesomegoodnoises-you’llwanttoloadthembackupagainonfutureprojects!

ABOUTTHEPRESETS

Theuserinterfaceisverysimplesoanypresetcanbequicklyadaptedtocreatetherisesyouwant,butplentyofpresetshavebeencreatedforspeedandconvenience,tohelpyoufindtherightsoundsasquicklyaspossible.PRESETFOLDERS

Thepresetfoldersare:

Cleanforpure,rich,bigsounds.Hypedarewiderandbrighter.Darkaremorelowanddangerous.Vastaremorebig,cavernousandwide.ModGategiveyouModWheelcontrolovertheGATER.ModCrunchgetmoredistortedastheModWheelgoesup.VelocityControlallowsMIDIvelocity(howhardyouhitthekey)tocontroltheintensityoftherisebyvaryingthefilterandvolume.Whenyougettoknowthismoduleyou’llrealizethatthesemaincategoriesarejustthesamesoundsbutwithoneortwoknobsorbuttonschangedandsotheyarereallytherejustforyourconvenience.GuestPresetsareinspiringcreationsfromourinvitedsounddesigners.

SCULPTORLICENSEAGREEMENTYouarefreetousesoundsandmusicmadewiththissoftwareinanymusicalcontextincludingsounddesign,commercialrecordings,soundtracksandProductionMusic.Restrictions:

1.Youarenotauthorizedtousethissoftwareoranyofthesesoundsinanysamplelibraryproduct.2.Youcannotuseanyexposedsinglesoundswithnothingelseaddedasanentirecueoronastemwhichcouldallowexposedsinglesounds:pleasefadeorblendSculptorsoundswithsoundsfromothersourcesinyourproductionstousethesoundslegally.3.Useisrestrictedtothesinglepurchaserofthesoftware.4.ThissoftwarecannotbesharedordistributedwithoutthepermissionofGothicInstruments.5.Thislicenseisrevokedifanyoftheabovetermsarenotcompliedwith.

General:

6.ThislicenseissubjecttothelawsoftheUnitedKingdom7.Thislicenseisnotatransferofcopyrighttothepurchaser–theownershipoftheintellectualpropertywithinthesoftwareandtheaudioitcontainsremainswithGothicInstruments.

WATERMARKWARNING:Allaudiohasbeendigitallywatermarkedsothatweareabletoidentifyoursoundsinproductions,sopleaseavoidpiracyorbreakingthelicenseterms.

FINALTIPS

Therearesomegreatpresetsincludedwhichshowthewiderangeofdifferentsoundsyoucanmakewithverysimpletools.However,everyprojectisdifferentandyouwillgetthebestresultsbycreatingyourowncustomizedsoundsthatbetterfityourtrack.Forexample,youmightwanttoditchthereverbsoyoucanuseyoursuperiorreverbsounds,orhavethemsoundingmoredry.YoumightwanttoextremelydetuneeverythingbydroppingthemasterinstrumentTuneknobfrom0anythingdownto-36semitones(3octaves)orupfrom0to+36tocreatesmallfastsounds.Youmightwanttotriggermanysoundstogethertogetaveryrichnoisesound(butlowerthevolumeifso!).Aboveall,justmovetheknobs,hitthekeys,pressRANDOMandputsomeamazingnewexcitementintoyourmusic.Enjoy!Dan&AdamGothicInstrumentswww.facebook.com/gothicinstruments

CREDITS

SoundDesignbyAlessandroCamnasioScriptingbyAdamHanleyConcept,management,presetsandmanualbyDanGrahamGuestpresetsbyMarie-AnneFischer,VinkoBorcic,AlessandroCamnasio,KyleKniceleyandJonathanSharp.ArtworkbyDarinLeach